A showery afternoon with a strong SW>6 but a big improvement on this morning.
Home from an afternoon therapeutic shopping spree with Lynda it was gear back on and off to Mixenden reservoir.
It was wet and windy as I scaled the embankment and peered over the top carefully to see a female Goosander that had got wind of me and was swimming out of the SW corner. Dumbo me dashed to the top of the banking whilst riving the camera out of the bag, which should have been out ready, only to flush 3 female Goldeneye from the same corner by the ramp. All 4 flew low over the water landing in the NW corner. If I,d have checked the corner first carefully I,d have snapped the Goldeneye before they flew instead of dashing in like a bull in a china shop and ended up with no pics at all.
The walk along the west bank was not easy to say the least as it was ankle deep in mud and a real good test for waterproof boots, which in my case failed, but once my feet were soaked it did,nt matter so I could trudge on regardless.
A check of Ogden failed to produce this mornings Goldeneye with just Mallards and small gulls on the water.
A 30 minute stake out finally produced a Kingfisher but very distant by the sluice gate and amazingly whilst I was snapping it a second Kingfisher appeared briefly by the ponds before disappearing below the pump house.
A decent finish to a very hard days birding.
BS